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April 2, 2026
April Program Tasks
- Please continue to encourage the program to generate student responses from current seniors. Use your tool’s roster to supplement the program.
- You should be able to start promoting the program to juniors around April 8th! Our annual Spring Marketing toolkit will be coming out a month earlier this year and will allow you to access relevant digital and print materials to share with juniors and their families.
- Sign up for a May “Get Set for Success” session to get ready for a smooth start to the fall.
Invoices can be sent to our agency if data has been received and processed. More information on how to do so below.
- Per your local process, student transcripts can be sent to their colleges of requested proactive admissions. More details below.
- Refer any new high school partners to Direct Admissions coordinator. See referral channels below.
- Please take a brief program survey to support our efforts and possible creation of a new program postcard.
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FYI: Data and metrics are found below. The annual legislative report is now available, too, and the dashboard is forthcoming soon.
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FYI: Contribute to the future of Dual Enrollment in the state by taking Minnesota’s P-20 Education Partnership’s survey before 9 am on April 6th.
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FYI: Register to attend the April Metro Area Regional Counselor convening.
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FYI: Direct Admissions Minnesota attends NACAC’s launch of the Center for Innovation in College Admissions.
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FYI: No program staff available the week of April 6th.
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Reminder: There is no April “Just-in-time High School Mentor” session this month. We will have our final one of the year on the morning of May 13th.
Program updates for the month follow:
Promoting the Program
We continue to receive student survey selections, and as such, we ask that you continue to promote the program to students and families. Your program Tool (Direct Admissions) can support these efforts. User view access is explained in more detail on the bottom of the High School Staff Resource Guide. If you haven’t done so already, please double-check your whitelisting (Domains to Whitelist (2025-2026).xlsx - Google Sheets) and your school’s ability to receive batch emails. The email to student school email inboxes comes from “MN_OHE - Do Not Reply”, or donotreply.ohe@state.mn.us. Multiple users from a high school can have access to the roster, and it is primarily meant for individuals who work most closely with students on the college search process and for folks who might evaluate macro level college-access data. User view access is explained in more detail on the bottom of the High School Staff Resource Guide page.
Spring Marketing Toolkit
This year the Spring Marketing Toolkit is set to be released on April 8th. It comes out a month earlier than last year’s and will allow you to access relevant digital and print materials to share with juniors and their families. There is plenty of digital content (including several new videos to plug the program), and you do have the ability to order print materials through Bolger a final time before summer.
"Get Set for Success"
We will have two “Get Set for Success” sessions in May for currently participating high school staff. These sessions will be great for anyone on the local Direct Admissions support team. This session is not mandatory, though highly encouraged, and the content for each session will be the same, so register for the option that works best. All trainings are recorded, too, and if you’d prefer to simply watch the video later, please still RSVP. Content will include future tool enhancements and the planned annual maintenance window; SIS status updates; best practices within the tool; newly developing resources; and more!
- Session 1: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM on Tuesday, May 5th, 2026 >> Register today!
- Sessions 2: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM on Wednesday, May 13th, 2026 >> Register today!
Invoicing
Once your data has been received by the agency, you are able to invoice per your contract for program funds. More on invoicing can be found at the following toolkit resource: When and How do I Invoice OHE.
Reminder
Be sure to be reminding students about sending along their transcripts to colleges they’ve requested proactive admissions to. Your local process does not need to change, and this is another possible use of your roster in the Tool. To get a better sense of when colleges prefer receiving this important document, please consult the toolkit resource: Transcript Send Timeline Table
Program Outreach
Program outreach for new high schools, and while we have around 301 contracted high schools for the upcoming fall and hosted over 100 attendees at the March information sessions, you can still help! We have a few opportunities to spread the word, including:
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Sharing the interest form with any high schools in your area who are not yet participating.
- Encouraging your high school colleagues and network to connect directly with me for the program’s application or if there are any program questions.
Postcard sending survey
Please take a few minutes (less than 5) to complete a short survey about our agency creating and providing Direct Admissions’ Promotional Post Cards for high schools to send to the families of rising seniors. OHE’s goal is to determine if there is demand within high schools for this sort of promotional material, and your input is requested to help guide our work!
Data Update
Currently, we have 245 of 257 participating high schools (95% of the program’s high school cohort) reporting, with 34,603 surveys sent via Direct Admissions. Currently, 4,683 students are requesting proactive admission to a participating college partner (approximately 14% of the eligible cohort). Part two of the new program tool will be available this month, the program-level data dashboard. While your portal allows you access to your individual school’s student level data and roster, this next phase is a comprehensive dashboard for public reporting and accountability. We will cover the Dashboard in greater detail at the “Get Set for Success” sessions in May (see above).
Dual Enrollment in Minnesota Survey
As part of Minnesota’s continued involvement in the national Next Phase of Dual Enrollment Policy Cohort, a statewide vision for dual enrollment is being developed. A draft of this statement is hyperlinked. The final version of this vision will become the guiding framework for a series of policy and practice recommendations that will be released publicly in a final report this fall. Minnesota’s P-20 Education Partnership would like to invite your feedback on the draft vision statement. Please take five minutes to complete this brief form to provide your input on the draft prior to Monday, April 6 at 9:00am. Responses to the form are anonymous, however they may be shared in aggregated data and/or quoted in the final report. We also ask you to consider forwarding this email to your colleagues, members, employees, students, families, or other stakeholders and invite them to provide their feedback as well. Feedback will be collected through April 6th at 9:00am. Thank you for helping us collect statewide input!
Metro Area Regional Counselor convening
You are cordially invited to attend the Office of Higher Education's (OHE) Spring Twin Cities Metro Region Counselor Convening. This April’s annual event will be on Wednesday, April 29th from 8:30 am to 1:15 pm.
We know that your time is valuable, the work that you do is critical, and that this has been an eventful past year in terms of college admissions and financial aid. Our Counselor Convening will be a time to gather with your peers and partners from higher education to cover topics including:
- Predictions and discussions about the future of higher education, including the test optional admissions practices, tuition discounting, and the impact of programs like the North Star Promise.
- FAFSA and state financial aid updates from Office of Higher Education staff from our financial aid and SELF loan teams.
- Information on the agency’s robust postsecondary support, including our SLEDS data system and an introduction to Postsecondary Leadership Teams.
- On overview on Tribal Relations and Minnesota Higher Education.
- Updates on the Direct Admissions Minnesota program throughout the state, including the future of the initiative and what it takes to become a participating high school.
The main event will be at our agency’s office in Saint Paul. Parking, a light breakfast, and lunch are all covered for the day. Although we know this is a commitment at a busy time of year, please know we have selected the above topics given the seismic changes to them: we hope to make this a meaningful event for attendees. We’d encourage you or a member of your counseling or career center team’s attendance if in the region. Please feel free to forward this topic along to any high school staff or community-based organizational partners you think might be interested in attending. The priority deadline to RSVP is Friday, April 17th. We do have limited space capacity, so please reserve your spot for you and your team as early as possible.
NACAC Center for Innovation in College Admissions summit attendance
As the Coordinator for the state’s program, Aaron had the good fortune and privilege to attend NACAC’s opening of the new Center for Innovation in College Admissions. Learn more about the event and the center at the following.
We’re excited to let you know that the legislatively mandated Direct Admissions Minnesota annual report has been posted to the website: Direct Admissions Report The report includes information about the program design; outcomes; challenges and recommendations; and the feasibility of scaling the program to all public high schools across the state. We’re really excited as data continues to support positive opportunities and for students at participating high schools in taking early college-search and enrollment behaviors and steps, from applying to colleges within the state to filling out financial aid information and more. We are also releasing the program’s data dashboard this month, and it will provide in time metrics on a weekly basis moving forward.
Out of the Office
The Direct Admissions’ team, both Aaron and Sally, will be away from the office the week of April 6th. Regular staffing and operations resume the week of April 13th.
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